Consumer Innovation Shout Out: Package Concierge®

At this year’s NRF’s Big Show 2019, we visited with Penny Lasater, Sr. Product Manager, Automated Product Solutions at Package Concierge. They are using their previous expertise deploying locker solutions for package delivery at apartment and multi-family residential complexes to help retailers improve the Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) process.

Essentially, a retailer installs a variety of different sized, digital, cloud linked, lockers at their stores. When a shopper orders an item and elects to pick up the item in store (maybe due to delivery costs, fear of ‘porch pirates’ or need for same-day access), she then receives an email with a PIN or scannable code which opens a designated locker. The shopper retrieves the package, and an email confirming pick-up is sent in parallel.

Lockers can be placed inside or outside a store, providing 24/7 access to orders. Research has documented that shoppers using the lockers give an 85 Net Promoter Score, and 30-70% of these shoppers make an additional purchase while at the store. Additionally, shoppers now don’t have to wait in line at a customer service counter to retrieve their purchase. It is up to the owner of the locker location if they want the lockers to be exclusive to a retailer and their products, or if they will be "open access," accepting shipments from any seller or shipper.

The locker ROI is derived from a reduction of about 57% in process time and steps required by the retailer to get an order into the shopper’s hands. By utilizing lockers, shoppers save an estimated 40% of time and steps verses retrieving orders from an employee at a service desk. The objective is to make the process as seamless and frictionless as possible and free employees’ time for other tasks.

The future? These systems can be used for other applications such as executing the returns process, facilitating B2B inventory transfers, and offering product repair drop offs.

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